Mamihlapinatapei
by Cracklingllamas
Summary: Of the language Yagan. Definition: "The wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start"


**Mamihlapinatapei:**  
>Yagan (indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) – "the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start"<p>

…ooo…ooo…ooo…

The murder itself wasn't so strange, a young girl who had suffered a gunshot wound to her chest.

By late afternoon, the 12th precinct had the victim's elderly mother and father waiting for the detectives on their daughter's case to come speak with them. All they'd managed to discuss was the family's recent immigration from South America when the detectives were called out momentarily to answer a phone call.

The couple now sat watching the partners who had just previously been talking with them through the windows of their waiting room. The woman had finished with her phone call and was now speaking with her partner with an amused grin. They finished speaking, but their eyes didn't leave one another. The woman pulled her lower lip between her teeth slightly and flushed, leaning back and rising from her chair, nodding her head back towards the room.

Back inside waiting, the elderly couple shared grins.

"It's the Mamihlapinatapei," said the woman. Her husband nodded knowingly.

The group discussed for a while more, discussing her daughters home life and the people in her life. After about a half hour, the couple finished their meeting with the detective and her partner. The older woman stalled in the room for her husband and the other man to leave, discussing one thing or another.

"You know," the elderly woman said in a heavily accented voice to the woman detective, "Mamihlapinatapei can be either a curse or a gift. My husband and I suffered from it, and I know far too well how long it can drag on for." The detective gave her a questioning look, and just before she had the chance to speak again, the woman interrupted.

"Don't be afraid to take a break or two while working on our daughter's case. Do what you need to do." With that, the woman swept out of the room, and her and her husband disappeared down the hall.

…ooo…ooo…ooo…

The case was running smoothly. The team already had two plausible leads, though the one they left off on for the night seemed like it may lead to an arrest by early the next morning. Beckett had sent Ryan and Esposito home; with a case like this, there really was no use suffering through late nights. She was just finishing up a few bits of paperwork from her last case, then planned on heading home. Castle, of course, refused to leave until she did. He was currently in the break room making up two last cups of coffee for the night.

The word their victims mother had used earlier in the day was still haunting Beckett. Mamihlapinatapei? She glanced back at the break room…Castle was staring blankly at the wall while waiting for the coffee to finish. Beckett quickly opened up a search bar, looking up the word. The definition she found caused her to huff exasperatedly. Still, however, she couldn't help the slight smile that crept upon her face. She glanced back at the break room again. Wait, where was-

"Got a new lead? Our victim was… reluctant to start but wanting to initiate something?" Castle read off the screen from behind her. Beckett spun around to face him and got a smirk and waggle of eyebrows in response.

"No, it was just a word one of the parents used today...I was curious to see what it meant" She responded, maybe a bit too quickly. Then, before he had the chance to say anything more on the matter, she stated that she was done, turned off her computer, and the two headed out.

They entered the elevator in silence. As they headed downwards, Beckett snuck a glance at the man standing next to her.

Mamihlapinatapei. Maybe she'd finally found a word to describe what she imagined was going on within her.

…ooo…ooo…ooo…

_**So this may not have been the best fic. I've ever written, but I found this word and almost peed myself with the perfectness of it for Castle and Beckett. So, naturally, I broke the hiatus I've had for the last few months from fanfiction, procrastinated more on my homework, and wrote this as quick as possible. **_

_**Reviews are always wonderful :)**_


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